Intro to Permaculture Course Syllabus

Instructor: Sean Jennings
Email: swjennings@gmail.com

COURSE TITLE: Introduction to Permaculture

There are no prerequisites for this course. We will meet from September 8 through October 13 for 6 meetings. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SECOND MEETING IS LOCATED AT THE SANTA MONICA MAIN LIBRARY AND OUR GUEST SPEAKER WILL BE BRAD LANCASTER, AUTHOR OF RAINWATER HARVESTING.

All class meetings, except for ONE (noted below) take place in Room 216 on the SMC Bundy campus located at 3171 S. Bundy Drive, 1/2 block South of Airport Ave. 7-9pm Monday evenings. Parking is FREE.

Course Purpose
At the conclusion of this course, students will be familiar with the issues that we face and how Permaculture can fit in. Students will understand what changes are most beneficial in an age of Climate Change and higher energy costs.

Suggested text for this course:
Permaculture: Designer's Manual, Mollison, Bill ©1997, Tagari Press. The Permaculture Bible.

Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, Holmgren, David ©2002, Holmgren Design Services. Updated text on Permaculture in a Post Oil Age.

Gaia's Garden, Hemenway, Toby ©2001, Chelsea Green Publishing There will be no specific assigned reading from this book, but it is a great homescale permaculture book.

Rainwater Harvesting for the Drylands and Beyond v. I & II, Lancaster, Brad, ©2006, Chelsea Green Publishing, Great text on Rainwater conservation for our climate.

The Transition Handbook, Hopkins, Rob ©2008, Green Books, This book offers a template for change.

The Hand Sculpted House, Evans, Ianto ©2002, Chelsea Green Publishing, Great book on Natural building and home design.

Date Mtg TOPIC
09/08 1 Lecture: Introduction – roll, Extension policy, meeting time and place, attendance and tardiness, office hours, expectations, objectives. Ecology, Ethics and Principles, Zones and Sectors.
09/15 2 Field Trip: Santa Monica Main Library, Brad Lancaster, Rainwater Harvesting for the Drylands and Beyond, 601 Santa Monica Blvd, Multipurpose Room, 2nd floor, 7pm, 6:30 potluck.
09/22 3 Lecture: Water/Zone 0 (Shelter)
09/29 4 Lecture: Zones I & II, The Home Garden
10/06 5 Lecture: Zones III, IV, & V, Beyond the Home and into the Community
10/13 6 Hands on Demonstrations: Practical application of the class, Mushroom Inoculation, Seed balls, Natural Paints, etc.

Office Hours
I have no set office hours, however, by email. I am willing to meet with students almost any day of the week at my place of work in Malibu or a mutually convenient coffee bar. It is my most sincere desire that you learn and you will find me very approachable. After class is usually not a very good time because that’s when all students vie for answers and we are all tired after a long day. You can net a more thoughtful answer by contacting me another time.

Updates and Handouts
For this course I will utilize my personal blog page at http://smcpcintro.blogspot.com/ to post handouts and extra material for the class. There is an RSS feed through which each posting is automatically forwarded to your email so you can have access to handouts whenever they are posted. This approach is most handy when dealing with field trips because links to maps can be posted and any last minute updates are easily available. If this technology is new to you, another classmate or I will guide you through it. It is not difficult.